The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Cornus, grown as an ornamental shrub, botanically known as Cornus sanguinea and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Cato’.
The new Cornus is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Zundert, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new Cornus cultivars with improved growth habit and coloration.
The new Cornus originated from an open-pollination made during 1997 of the Cornus sanguinea cultivar Winter Flame, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection of Cornus sanguinea. The new Cornus was discovered and selected by the Inventor from within the progeny of the stated open-pollination in a controlled environment in Zundert, The Netherlands in 1998.
Asexual reproduction of the new Cornus by softwood cuttings in a controlled environment in Zundert, The Netherlands since 1999, has shown that the unique features of this new Cornus are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.